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Wednesday, December 23, 2009

The excitement was evident in Devils right wing David Clarkson from the moment he stepped on the ice this morning. Only Patrik Elias and Zach Parise beat him to the ice and that was only by a few steps.

In his first practice with the team since breaking his right fibula (the outside bone above the ankle) when he blocked a shot by Zdeno Chara on Nov. 27 in Boston.

"It's nice to be back with the team," he said. "I felt really good. I worked out pretty hard and I watched what I ate. There's a couple of things that are going to come with time, but I felt pretty good. I was excited. I was probably the first guy here. I felt like it was the beginning of the season again to go back out there."

"He looked good," Lemaire said. "You know what? He's really excited to come back. You could tell. He wanted to come back the day he got injured."

Although Devils general manager Lou Lamoriello did not rule out that Clarkson could play Saturday night in Washington, Lemaire did.

"I think he's going to skate tomorrow and things like that on his own," Lemaire said. "And he's going to skate when we play (Saturday) and a couple of practices with us, he could be ready next week, early next week."

That could mean Monday night's home game against Atlanta is a possiblity. The Devils would have to make a roster move to activate Clarkson from injured reserve. If Lemaire changes his mind and decides Clarkson can play Saturday, the Devils would be able to send down Matt Corrente or Vladimir Zharkov, though the NHL's holiday roster freeze continues through midnight on Sunday. Corrente and Zharkov were sent down and called up on Dec. 13 to make them eligible to be sent down during the roster freeze.

Clarkson said he had been "skating for probably a week now" on his own before today's practice. He said he had "two weeks of not doing too much, nothing at all."

"I was able to do some stuff in the gym like upper body (work) and now I'm just able to do little by little," he said. "I skated by myself for a while and now I'm able to skate with the team. So, we'll see when they feel like I'm ready, but today was a good start."

Clarkson admitted the he was initially concerned that he would be out for longer than he has been.

"I haven't been hurt before in the NHL, so it bothers you a little," he said. "You want to be part of the team and you want to do what you can to help and you're sitting in your bed. Originally, I thought it was worse. When I got to the hospital and had some things done, they went in and did some work and said I was going to be OK -- four to six weeks I'd be back playing. I'm at four weeks right now, so they were pretty accurate with their time. The doctors at the hospital in Boston were really good and took care of me pretty good."

Clarkson's father was at the game, so he spent the night with him at the hopsital in Boston before he was released the next day. Clarkson was also thankful that Lamoriello went to the hospital with him.

"He was there with me until the doctors came and he wouldn't leave until he knew (what was going on)," Clarkson said. "I said my dad's here, but he said, 'I'm fine. I'll stay.' Just having him there with me was pretty important and it meant a lot to me for him to be there."

Chara has one of the hardest shots in the NHL. When it hit Clarkson, he knew something bad had happened. He ended up crawling off the ice after initially trying to get up and skate.

"When I went down, I tried to get up and put weight on it and I realized something was wrong in there," he said. "I tried to skate a little bit and there wasn't much there, so I had to just get to the bench because I realized that something was either broken or bad. So, I went right off and the doctors were there within minutes and cleaned it up. The trainers helped me get off the ice. That was a nice thing. Even when I got to the locker room, I wanted to put weight on it to see if I could go back (and play). I said, 'Don't take my skate off yet. Let me see.' I couldn't do anything. It was too painful and pretty swolen. So, I couldn't do anything."

The impact of puck actually cut open Clarkson's leg, which initially caused some fear of infection.

"They just went in and washed it out and just made sure what was going on with the muscles and the bone," Clarkson said. "They didn't have to plate it. The bone had set itself, so it was perfectly straight. I didn't need the doctors to do anything (with the bone). So, I was pretty fortunate."

Clarkson said he has broken bones in his hands from fighting and broke his foot once. "Any broken bone I've had, I've recovered pretty quick," he said. "This was pretty quick. I think. Everyone was surprised I was able to come back this quick, but I'm not back yet. We'll see when the coach decides to put me in. But, for now, I feel good. Today was a good start."

Clarkson said he won't need to add any extra protection on his shin guard when he returns. He turned right before Chara's shot hit him, which caused the puck to hit the side of the shin guard rather than the front.

"I was coming across the ice and I wasn't in front of him, so I had to come across to block it," Clarkson said. "It hit where I was protected, but it was just enough. It was a hard shot."

Although some of his teammates were going home for Christmas, Clarkson will be remaining New Jersey. Although the CBA does not allow teams to practice on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, injured players can rehab and receive treatment.

About

TOM GULITTI has covered the New Jersey Devils for The Record since 2002. Prior to that, he covered the New York Rangers for four years. Gulitti joined The Record in 1998 after six years at The North Jersey Herald News. He graduated from Binghamton University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Arts in Rhetoric-Literature.